


My Truth, Now and Always

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Gen, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-08 05:06:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11639526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)





	My Truth, Now and Always

“Everyone, I’d like you to welcome Agent Danica Simmons, a recent graduate of the Academy,” Hotch said as you walked into the room. As you painted a smile onto your face, you tuned in to Hotch’s words. Hearing him refer to you as Danica Simmons was so foreign to your ears - the words felt off in the distance. “She’s joining us from St. Louis PD after five years.”

Truth?

God, you wished that was your truth. No, in fact it wasn’t.

Your name was Danica Simmons, it was Y/N Y/L/N, and your ex-husband was a powerful man with endless resources, and not just the monetary kind, resources that you knew he would spend wisely in his endless pursuit of you. After two years of endless physical and mental abuse at his hands, you worked up the courage to flee. Instead of Dr. Y/L/N, psychology professor at a bumfuck college in the middle of nowhere, you were now Agent Danica Simmons, well, you became Agent after applying to and get accepted to the Academy. 

Point was, you were start your life over, far away from the man that had plagued the last two years of your life. “Hello, everyone,” you said with a heavy smile. “My name is Danica, you can call me Dany for short if you’d like. I look forward to working with you all.” Your eyes scanned the room as Agent Hotchner introduced everyone. First was David Rossi, who even as a psychology professor, you’d heard much about. Then there was Agents Jennifer Jareau, Emily Prentiss, and Derek Morgan, their warm and smiling faces immediately welcoming you - a person they truly knew nothing about - into the group. Standing next to Derek was the technical analyst Penelope Garcia. Although you didn’t know her, she looked like a bright ray of sunshine, the type of person you were before your ex (technically still) husband beat it out of you. Finally, was Dr. Spencer Reid. There was a softness about him, an awkwardness that you found endearing, which made sense considering all you’d been through.

After all the introductions had been made, Hotch invited you to sit down. You already had a case. Sure, you studied human behavior, but up until now, you’d only applied it in a collegiate setting. It was a whole new ball game now. You weren’t sure if you were ready for it, but frankly, you didn’t really have a choice.

—-

A month had passed since you, Danica, not you Y/N, had joined the BAU, and though you were going by another name, you were feeling the most like yourself that you had since before you got married. Immediately, they had all welcomed you with open arms. In the month since you’d started, you’d been to two team dinners at the Thai food place down the street from the BAU, and three ladies’ nights, which consisted of booze, cards against humanity and amazing movies. Morgan was super sweet to you, almost like a big brother, while Rossi and Hotch acted like surrogate fathers. The only person who was still a little weird around you was Spencer, but from what you could tell that was because Spencer had a little bit of a crush on you. Were it not for the reason you were here to begin with, you’d ask him out. In your eyes, he was everything you’d ever deserved but hadn’t gotten. 

There was one problem.

Your ex-husband still existed.

And although you didn’t know how you knew, you felt that he was nearing you. Thousands of miles from home and yet you swore you saw familiar faces while you were out and about. Once or twice there had been pieces of mail that had no return address (you’d immediately thrown them away). Once, you’d even convinced yourself that you’d seen his face from across the street, though he vanished in an instant, so you convinced yourself you were wrong. You’d been on the run for nearly a year. Most of that time was spent applying to and getting into the Academy, but once you got in, your guard had been let down, and now he was hot on your trail. You were convinced of it. 

Then it happened. He appeared. You had absolutely no doubt that it was him. As you were preparing to leave on a case, Grant Anderson showed up to the round table room. “Agent Hotchner?”

“Yes, Anderson, what is it?”

“There was someone outside asking for someone that wasn’t here. I just got a really bad feeling from him. I thought you should know.” As soon as he said that, you knew who it had to be, but when Hotch asked the next logical question, it was confirmed. 

“Who was he asking for?”

“Someone by the name of Y/N Y/L/N.”

It took everything in you not to flinch. They would’ve noticed immediately. Your cover was blown, but you didn’t want to bring these new people into your mess - you hadn’t expected to become so attached so quickly. But that’s what happened when you were out of his clutches. 

—-

Another week had passed since he’d shown his face at the Bureau. He wanted you on edge. Other than the physical abuse, he thrived on the psychological torture, so watching you squirm, knowing that he was so close and yet wouldn’t show his face, was definitely getting his rocks off. That night, as you sat in bed with your windows tightly locked, the door dead-bolted, and your gun sitting right under your pillow, you promised yourself that you’d tell your teammates your story in the morning. Had this just been a job for you, you might have considered dealing with this on your own, but you knew him. He was going to go after them to hurt you one way or another, but if they were prepared - if they knew about him - then at least you could destroy a piece of his plan. Make him work harder. If he was going to take you down, you weren’t going to make it easier for him, and you weren’t going to leave your friends in a blind spot.

—-

The next morning, you walked into the round table room, your face red and puffy from crying all night. This was the last place you imagined to be in life, but here you were and you couldn’t put them in harm’s way, so here went nothing. “Danica?” Spencer asked. “Are you okay?”

“No,” you whispered, sitting down as the eyes of all your teammates descended upon you. “I’m not okay.”

“What’s wrong?” Rossi asked.

With a deep breath, you fiddled with your fingers a bit before looking at Hotch. “You know that man that Anderson said gave him a bad feeling last week?” Hotch’s expression didn’t change from one of worry, but he nodded, convincing you to continue. “I know him.”

“Who is he?” Emily asked.

Why was this your life? A deep breath rattled out of you. “My ex-husband, technically still husband.” When you glanced upward, your eyes caught the astonished expressions on everyone’s faces, but they were soon blurred by tears. “My name isn’t Danica Simmons,” you stuttered. All of a sudden, so much more was at stake for you than you physical life - the life that you built for yourself, this job and your new friends were also at risk, and that felt even worse for some reason. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I do have a doctoral degree, just no law enforcement experience.”

“What is your name?” Garcia asked. When you looked at her, the tears streamed harder. It was tough disappointing all of them, but some reason, it hurt even more with Garcia.

“Y/N Y/L/N. I was a lot like you Garcia, before him.”

When they didn’t say anything, you used the silence as your invitation to continue. “I married right after getting my Ph.D. He seemed like a great guy, until about six months into our marriage. It started with verbal abuse, and then turned physical. The last time he hit me, I ended up in the hospital, so I ran. I found a friend to give me a new identity, and came here. I wanted to start a new life.” The words were being strangled in your throat as you spoke, so you stopped, took a deep breath and continued. “I didn’t think he would find me until recently. I know I’ve only been here a little over a month and you owe me nothing, but I feel like I owe you all.” Glancing to the side, you saw Spencer’s eyes glazed with tears, his eyes flashing with a hint of anger for the man that hurt you. Garcia put her hand on top of yours, which made you start to sob. “I realize that I lied to get here, but I actually think I’m good at this job and I didn’t expect to be welcomed so warmly by all of you. I could never live with myself if something happened to you because of him…I understand if you want me to leave.”

After a few moments of silence, Hotch sighed heavily and you were 99 percent positive that he was going to ask you to leave. “Tell us more about him.”

Your head snapped up. “What? Why?”

Rossi leaned into the table, his elbows resting on the mahogany colored surface. “When someone comes after one of us, they come after all of us.”

A choked sob escaped you. “What about the fact that I lied?”

“You did actually pass the Academy right?” Hotch asked. “Just under a different name?”

“Yea,” you laughed, trying to force a little levity into the heaviness of the situation. “I didn’t think there was any way around that.”

“Then you’ve earned the right to be here,” he said. “I’ll figure out a way to convince my superiors that you deserve to stay here.” You shot him an unspoken thank you, unable to form the actual words, before he asked you to tell them all about your ex-husband. And so you told them of the man that stole your innocence and light.

—-

By the time you finished, nearly everyone was crying. “How do you want to go about catching him?” Hotch asked. “Profile him. What do you think his next move is going to be?”

“Well,” you started wiping the tears from your eyes and composing yourself, “He’s got the money and people to come after me, so I have no doubt that he or someone he knows saw me come in this morning, and based on my red and puffy, he could assume that I told you all about him. Since he can’t use you to hurt me anymore, at least no easily, he’s going to come straight for me. Him, not someone else.” Even though the rest of the team was behind you, you still doubted that the Bureau as a whole would expend resources for someone that lied to them, so you hesitated. “C-can we have undercover agents stationed nearby my apartment? My best guess is that he’s going to come for me personally. Not tonight, but in a couple of days.”

“Are we all okay with going after this bastard?” Hotch asked. Slowly, everyone nodded their heads. “Good, then we’ll be standing guard in shifts for the next few nights. Some of us in cars, some of us on the streets, some of us in shops or cafes nearby. You have us all on speed dial?”

“Yes.”

“Then call us immediately if you feel like anything is wrong,” he said.

It was that simple. With that, a plan was in place. Maybe, just maybe, your years-long nightmare was almost over.

—-

Your assumptions had been correct. The previous night brought nothing. Despite the fact that you knew your teammates were outside your apartment, you barely slept, coming in the next morning with drawn skin and a serious desire for sleep. Tonight was another night, but you were so exhausted you fell asleep.

Crash!

Popping up from your bed, you heard a vase hit the floor and immediately grabbed your gun and your phone. With your gun aimed at the bedroom door, you called Hotch. “Hotch!” you whispered. “Are any of the team in the apartment?”

“No,” he said. “Stay calm. We’re on our way.”

Despite the gun in your hand, your heart pounded in your chest. Strength or not, gun or not, this man still beat you senselessly - you were still scared. “Oh, Y/N,” he cooed. “I told you you’d never be safe from me.” The door creaked, and your finger pressed gently onto the trigger of your gun.

“Freeze!” It was Spencer. 

“Who the hell are you?” Your husband asked.

Spencer smirked and pressed his finger to the trigger as well. “I’m her friend. And I know who you are. Put the gun down and turn around.”

He did as Spencer asked just as you peeked out the door. In an instant, your husband lunged at Spencer. Though the gun was knocked from Spencer’s hands, he managed to recoil and dodge, throwing a punch to your husband’s jawline, which sent him back into the wall. The anger in his eyes scared you, but he was going to go after Spencer and without a thought, you exited the room and lunged at him, getting hit in the face and pinned to the floor before he was pulled off you. “Enough!” Morgan screamed. “You’re done, asshole!”

You had a split lip, but you were okay. Spencer came up to your side and pulled you up, gathering you in his arms. “It’s over,” he whispered.

As Morgan dragged him from your apartment, he twisted and turned to get away, his eyes boring holes into your skin. With his money and power, you were still petrified. He was definitely going to jail, but the true question was for how long. Your only solace was the truth. The team knew everything now and though you weren’t sure you deserved their help, they were there to give it - now and always.


End file.
